Prey - A preview

One game I've been really amped about the last little while is Prey, an FPS from Human Head and 3D Realms--of Duke Nukem fame--which has been in production for, like, ever. Pretty much as long as Duke Nukem Forever, except this game actually exists. Being the huge FPS fanboy that I am, the unique features that this game is bringing to the table--namely one-sided portals and gravity flipping--have me totally jonesed. The demo came out Thursday, and it seems to be shaping up quite nicely.

The story in a nutshell is this: your play a Cherokee man named Tommy. He hates the Indian reserve he currently resides in and wants to escape it as fast as possible. His girlfriend refuses to leave with him, and his grandfather--who's name in the credits is "grandfather"--is desperately trying to make Tommy embrace the ways of his ancestors. Soon after the game begins, weird green lights start shooting down from the sky and suck you, your girlfriend, your grandfather, and the bar you're sitting in up into this giant spherical spaceship above earth. It's up to you to find a way to save your friends and escape the ship. The demo runs you through the first five levels, giving you a small taste of what is to come.

Graphically, this game is fairly impressive. Human Head has taken then Doom 3 engine here and gave it a serious overhaul. The weird, lumpy character models from Doom have been tweequed quite nicely here, so the humans actually look like humans. Prey's visuals are structured entirely around a very organic design. The ship itself looks like a living, breathing entity, complete with pulsating walls and random oozing orifices. Even the weapon designs are uniquely organic. The first weapon you get is a sort of automatic pistol with which you are able to zoom by having this little snake-like creature lach onto your eye. It makes for some very immersive gameplay.

One of the main concerns I had with this game was the combat. Doom 3 had some very lame enemy AI--which didn't know the meaning of cover, somehow knew exactly where you were at all times, and "shocked" you by predictably zapping in as soon as you pick up health packs--and since Prey is using the same engine, it had the potential to fall into the same trap. However the AI is definitely better here, though still nowhere near the caliber of Half-Life 2. In the demo, there are only about four different types of enemies, and only one of them every actively attacks you. The others only come at you if you attack them first--though that doesn't make them weak in any way. One of them can't be killed by a headshot--if you try, it's head will pop right off, and he'll still keep gunning for you. However, unlike Doom, your enemies actually strafe and take cover this time, as well as shoot at you around corners--which for some reason, you aren't able to do. It's not a huge deal, but some people I've talked to find it really irritating that your enemies have a basic function that you don't, even though your character was supposedly trained in the army.

But it's the unique features of that game that had me jonesing for this demo. The main one of these that Human Head has pimped out the hardest is Portals. A little hard to describe, so allow me to use a visual aid:



Essentially, these portals allow you to seamlessly teleport to a completely different section of the level with no load time or other interruption. The demo sports two different types of these: one being circular rips in nothingness, the other appearing as regular doorways. However, both of these can only be accessed from one side. If you were to walk around to the back of a portal doorway or rip, it simply won't be there. It's pretty cool stuff, and they use it quite well in the demo. There's also gravity flipping, which is pretty freakin disorienting, let me tell you. Early on in the demo, you come across a lit-up catwalk that scales the walls and roof of the room you are in, and allows you to walk up it and all around the room. Also, there are rooms that have certain switches you can shoot to flip gravity around, which gets pretty freakin in multiplayer, since there are people in every direction gunning for you. It will be interesting to see if Human Head can actually create an environment with 360 degrees of danger.

I am super amped about Prey. My only hope is that Human Head hasn't blown all of it's cool tricks on its five level demo, and still has some really unique stuff up their sleeves. The game comes out July 10.

Peace,
Ram